Outbound contact records for a contact center can be arranged as an ordered list reflecting a priority for reaching a party during defined time periods. For each time period, the corresponding prioritized list is used for originating outbound contacts. Originating outbound contacts involves first determining when an agent is available and determining an agent profile of the available agent. Then, records in the ordered list are searched to identify parties having a compatible called party profile matching the agent profile. When an agent is available, the selected contact records are used to generate outbound contacts and a responding party is matched to the agent. Other responding parties may be matched with other agents having the same agent profile or matched with second-best compatible agents. At certain conditions, the remaining records may be processed in a list-centric manner wherein a responding party is matched with any available agent.